Dear editor:

To Mr. Paul Hoeft:

I feel that I need to respond to your column in the Jan. 10 issue of the Powell Tribune. I have been an election judge in Park County since 2016 and can assure you that our elections are safe. Why were the lines at the Park County Fairgrounds so long at the general election last November? Because the poll workers were taking the time to make sure that they had the correct information from everyone — they checked ID’s, gave out information and helped people wanting to vote. Your friends Sen. Dan Laursen and his wife, college trustee Denise Laursen, were allowed to work as election judges because they wanted to do their part. Ask them how the election was conducted. Illegal immigrants are not allowed to vote and one apparent (unproven) case of someone illegally registering somewhere in Wyoming is not the reason to throw the entire system out. It boggles my mind that your side won all of your races (president, vice-president, and YOU), yet you want to restrict voting even more.

The immigration rates across the border of Mexico are down. There are NO gangs setting up in Colorado, no dogs being stolen in Ohio. Congress came up with a bipartisan bill to manage the illegal immigration issue last year, but the Republicans in Congress killed it because Mr. Trump said so. The laws that are in place are being enforced and if you would do some research, you would find that out. In reference to driver’s licenses, there are NOT sanctuary states issuing licenses to illegal immigrants. Every state has their own rules for issuing driver’s licenses but all of them require some sort of valid proof that that individual is authorized to drive.

What is the problem with the word “woke?” This irritates me to no end. You throw that word around like being kind and treating everyone fairly is a bad thing. The University of Wyoming is a fine educational system and deserves all of our support. You are correct when you said, “no one should be treated differently because of their race, sex, religion or other affiliations” and the DEI practices are there to guarantee that statement. It’s not the Legislature’s job to control the university, they know what they’re doing and can manage themselves. It is the Legislature’s job to fund our university, community colleges and public schools with the funds allotted to them — both state and federal.

Which brings me to your last point — property taxes. I agree that our property taxes are high, but we don’t have an income tax in Wyoming so where else are we going to fund our schools, city and county governments, fire and hospital districts as well as many other smaller agencies that depend on those funds? Property values have gone up everywhere and so taxes also go up when that happens. And increasing the sales tax rate just puts more of the burden on low-income individuals who are struggling.

Your caucus promises to fix everything that someone else has told you is wrong with our state, however including the word “Freedom” in the name is a misnomer. It seems to me that your only goal is to restrict freedom, not promote it.

I hope that you will research your information and talk to a few more people while you’re in Cheyenne. It is sad that social media has dropped their fact-checking rules but there are plenty of sources of accurate information out there.

Good luck.

Laurie Larsen

Powell